Read
the selection without stopping to choose the correct missing words.
Then read it again, pausing to underline the correct words. Finally,
read the selection again to see if it makes sense.

The
Splat Bug, Part I

“What’s
wrong, Tremor?” asked Travesty Troll. Her son was sitting in
a corner with his head down.“The
kids were choosing sides for a noseball game. They said I
couldn’t play because the sides wouldn’t be even. I
think it’s because I’m not good at sports.
I’m just not normal.”“You’re
normal,” Travesty
insisted. “You’re
just a little small; you’ll grow.”“If
Trogmire had been there, he’d have made them let me
play!” Tremor stated firmly. Trogmire had his faults, but
when things got serious, he was a __1__ friend.Travesty looked
out the kitchen window. “Speaking of Trogmire, there he is
now.”Tremor ran out the
door. Now he had someone to play with. Soon they were both running
around the yard playing troll tag.“What’s
that over there?” shouted Trogmire as something at the edge
of the lawn __2__ his eye.Tremor and
Trogmire raced to __3__ the discovery. __4__ down to take a closer
look, they saw what at first glance seemed to be a purple grape.
However, it had six short legs and a small round head stuck to the
front of its grapelike __5__. The eyes were tiny black dots. Its mouth
wasn’t even visible. The two young trolls had never seen
anything like it.Tremor’s
father, Trauma Troll, had __6__ his yard work to see what the
excitement was about. “That’s a splat
bug!” he announced
as he stomped on the little creature.“Why did
you kill it?” Tremor protested. “Does it
bite?”“__7__,
splat bugs don’t really bother anyone; they’re just
ugly,” Trauma replied as he scraped the __8__ of his shoe
against a rock. “Trolls are just supposed to step on them.
That’s how they got their __9__. There used to be a lot
__10__ splat bugs around when I was young, but for some reason
they’re hard to find nowadays.”Tremor looked sad.
“I don’t understand. Why should I step on something
that’s not bothering me?”“It’s
just what normal trolls do!” Trauma Troll declared.
“And that’s that!”Trogmire ran
around in circles chanting, “Splat the bug, splat the
bug!”